Data Sources, Contributors and Stewards

Amphibians - ITIS is current for North American
species based upon the USGS Biological Resources Division's unpublished
and expanded update of the 1987Checklist of Vertebrates of the
United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada, and additional information
provided by Roy McDiarmid, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, National
Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and
Darrel Frost, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, the ITIS
stewards for amphibians. ITIS has also integrated a list of Mexican amphibians,
contributed by Mexico's Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de
la Biodiversidad (CONABIO
http://www.conabio.gob.mx),
based on the following reference:

Amphipods - John Holsinger, Department of Biological Sciences
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, is compiling a database of amphipod
crustaceans in the families Crangonyctidae and Hadziidae
(
http://sci.odu.edu/biology/directory/Holsinger/jrh),
with a focus on subterranean taxa. As John completes each list they will
be integrated into ITIS. World species of the genus Crangonyx have been
added to ITIS based on the 2/24/2000 version of The Subterraneum Amphipod
Database (
http://web.odu.edu/sci/biology/amphipod/index.html).
John's work with ITIS is supported by a grant from the National Science
Foundation PEET Program (Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy).

Ants/parasitoid wasps - ITIS is current for ant species and subspecies
of the world as of July 2001 based on data provided by Norman F. Johnson,
Department of Entomology, Museum of Biological Diversity, Ohio State University,
Columbus, OH. Norm has also provided a world list of parasitoid wasp species
of the superfamily Ceraphronoidea. This is the first of three parasitoid
wasp superfamilies (Proctotuproidea and Platygasteroidea forthcoming)
to be provided, supported by a grant to Norm from the National Science
Foundation PEET Program. Ant and parasitoid wasp data are from the source:
http://atbi.biosci.ohio-state.edu:8880/hymenoptera/nomenclator.home_page.

Beetles (Coleoptera) - ITIS is processing
data for North American beetle lists that were provided by Margaret Thayer,
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois. Margaret is the ITIS
steward and has coordinated the work of many Coleopterists for ITIS.

Birds - ITIS has been fully updated for the
world taxonomy of birds based upon modifications and updates of Sibley
and Monroe's Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World, to
reflect as faithfully as possible the AmericanOrnithologists'
Union's Checklist of North American Birds, 7th ed.,
1998, and the USGS Biological Resources Division's unpublished and expanded
update of the 1987Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States,
the U.S. Territories, and Canada. Alan Peterson, Walla Walla, Washington
(http://www.zoonomen.net/)
and Richard Banks, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, National Museum
of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, are the ITIS
stewards for birds.

Cephalopods (squids, octopuses, etc.)
- ITIS has been updated with a world list of cephalopods provided by Mike
Sweeney and Clyde Roper, Department of Systematic Biology, National Museum
of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and Mike
Vecchione, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, based on the following
reference:

Crocodiles - ITIS is current for the world
with data from several sources. Roy McDiarmid, USGS Patuxent Wildlife
Research Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, DC, serves as the steward for crocodiles. ITIS has also integrated
a list of Mexican crocodiles, contributed by Mexico's Comision Nacional
para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO
http://www.conabio.gob.mx),
based on the reference mentioned above under Amphibians.

Decapoda (crabs, lobsters, shrimp, etc.)
- ITIS is current for selected decapod groups based upon the following
references:

Penaeoid and sergestoid shrimps and prawns of the world (steward
is Brian Kensley, Department of Systematic Biology, National Museum
of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC):
Farfante, Perez, and Brian Kensley. 1997. The Penaeoid and Sergestoid
Shrimps and Prawns of the World: Keys and Diagnoses for the Families
and Genera. Memoirs, Museum nationale d'Histoire naturelle. 175:1-233.

Marine lobsters of the world, economically important species (steward
is Brian Kensley, Department of Systematic Biology, National Museum
of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC):
Holthuis, L. B. 1991. Marine lobsters of the world. An annotated
and illustrated catalogue of species of interest to fisheries known
to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis (125) vol. 13. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy.

Axiid shrimps of the world (steward is Brian Kensley, Department
of Systematic Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, DC):
Sakai, K., and Michele de Saint Laurent. 1989. A checklist of Axiidae
(Decapoda, Crustacea, Thalassinidea, Anomura), with remarks and
in addition descriptions of one new subfamily, eleven new genera,
and two new species. Naturalists 3:1-104.

Diatoms - With assistance from Russell G. Kreis, Jr., US Environmental
Protection Agency, Mid-Continent Ecology Division, Grosse Ile, MI, and
J. Patrick Kociolek, Executive Director and Hanna Chair & Associate
Curator of Diatoms, Invertebrate Zoology & Geology, California Academy
of Sciences, ITIS has added a checklist of the diatoms of the Great Lakes,
based on the following reference:

Stoermer, E. F., R. G. Kreis, and N. A. Andresen. 1999. Checklist
of Diatoms from the Laurentian Great Lakes, II. Journal of Great Lakes
Research 25(3):515-566.

Further work to account for other North American species is expected
to take place in the future, based on data from Pat and other sources.

Diptera (flies, mosquitoes, gnats, bots,
etc.) - ITIS data reflect the 1986 work coordinated by Chris Thompson,
Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service,
Washington, DC. Chris Thompson is the ITIS steward for this group and
coordinates the BioSystematic Database of World Diptera with Neal Evenhuis,
Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI. See the Diptera Web site
(
http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/Diptera/biosys.htm)
for more information about the BDWD. Further updates to ITIS are planned
after the release of the next version of the BDWD, expected in 2001 or
2002.

Ephemeroptera (mayflies) - ITIS has been updated based on Mayfly
Centrals database
(
http://www.entm.purdue.edu/entomology/research/mayfly/mayfly.html)
(version February 2001) for North and Central America. Mayfly Central
is a program located in the Purdue University Department of Entomology,
and is maintained by the efforts of W. P. McCafferty and a series of specialists.

Fishes - ITIS is current for North American
freshwater fishes from data provided by Wayne Starnes, North Carolina
State Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina, through the
USGS Biological Resources Division's unpublished and expanded update of
the 1987 Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories,
and Canada. Chondricthyes of the world are current in ITIS. Bony fishes
current in ITIS are those represented in Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) catalogs, with input from Bruce Collette, National Marine Fisheries
Service, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, DC. Ongoing work to complete and reconcile species lists for
all bony fishes of the world is based upon William Eschmeyer's Catalog
of Fishes work (
http://www.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/index.html)
and other sources.

Fungi - Amy Rossman, Agriculture Research
Service, US Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland is the current
ITIS steward for Fungi, and others are contributing to the development
of fungal data for ITIS. Hypogeous fungi (truffles and false truffles)
are the first fungal groups to be critically reviewed and updated by North
American expert Robert Fogel, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Lichen
data is being developed under the guidance of Paula DePriest, Associate
Curator, Department of Systematic Biology, National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Agaric data and various
plant pathogen groups will follow.

Isopoda (pill bugs, etc.) - ITIS reflects
the 1994 version of the World List of Marine and Freshwater Crustacea
- Isopoda provided by Brian Kensley and Marilyn Schotte, Department of
Systematic Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, DC. Brian Kensley is the ITIS Steward for Isopods. ITIS has
added a world list of terrestrial isopods based on the following works:

This information was provided by Donald Klemm, US Environmental Protection
Agency, Cincinnati, OH, and Bill Moser, Department of Systematic Biology,
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
DC. Donald Klemm and Bill Moser are the ITIS stewards for leeches.

Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) - An updated list of the butterflies
and moths of North America is being developed by a number of cooperators,
including Ron Hodges, Paul Opler, John Brown, Don Lafontaine, and many
other Lepidoptera specialists. This list will be integrated into ITIS,
probably starting with the butterflies.

Lichens - The ITIS data steward for lichen
data is Paula DePriest, Associate Curator, Department of Systematic Biology,
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
DC. The current data set was provided cooperatively by Robert Egan, University
of Nebraska at Omaha and Theodore Esslinger, North Dakota State University
(
http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/esslinge/chcklst/chcklst7.htm)
and meets ITIS standards; it was uploaded from the PLANTS database
(http://plants.usda.gov).

Liverworts and hornworts - The data set
for liverworts and hornworts was developed cooperatively by Ray Stotler
and Barbara Crandell-Stotler, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale,
and uploaded from the PLANTS database (
http://plants.usda.gov).
The current liverwort list is partial and is expected to be expanded and
updated to a first iteration list for the continent.

Lizards - ITIS is current for North American
species based primarily on data from the USGS Biological Resources Division's
unpublished and expanded update of the 1987 Checklist of Vertebrates of
the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada,and additional
information provided by Roy McDiarmid, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
DC, who is the steward for lizards. ITIS has also integrated a list of
Mexican lizards, contributed by Mexico's Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento
y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO,
http://www.conabio.gob.mx), based on the reference mentioned above under
Amphibians.

Mammals - ITIS is current for North American
species based upon the USGS Biological Resources Division's unpublished
and expanded update of the 1987 Checklist of Vertebrates of the United
States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada, and additional information provided
by Alfred Gardner, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, National Museum
of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

ITIS is currently working through each mammal group, to complete them
for the world, based on data from the following primary references:

Rice, D. W. 1998. Marine Mammals of the World: Systematics and Distribution.
Special Publications of the Society for Marine Mammals, no. 4. The Society
for Marine Mammalogy, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.

Dr. Al Gardner is the ITIS steward for North American mammals. Dr. James
G. Mead, Department of Systematic Biology, National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, is ITIS steward for
marine mammals. Dr. Don Wilson, also of the Department of Systematic Biology,
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, is steward
for the remaining taxa.

Mantophasmatodea - a newly described
insect order has been added to ITIS based on the reference:

Millipeds - ITIS has supported the development
and loading of a milliped checklist by Richard Hoffman, Virginia Museum
of Natural History, Martinsville, VA, that covers North and Middle America,
as well as the East and West Indies. This work is now complete in ITIS,
based on the following publication:

Hoffman, Richard L. 1999. Checklist of the Millipeds of North and Middle
America. Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication No.
8.

Turgeon et al., eds. 1998. Common and Scientific Names of Aquatic Invertebrates
from the United States and Canada: Mollusks, second edition. AFS Special
Publication 26.

Mosses - The reviewed list of mosses within
ITIS was developed cooperatively by Lewis Anderson and Molly McMullen,
Duke University, and uploaded from the PLANTS database
(http://plants.usda.gov).
This list is expected to be superceded by a checklist from the Flora of
North America and Marshall Crosby, Missouri Botanical Garden in the future.
Marshall Crosby, Missouri Botanical Garden is the steward for mosses.

Odonata (dragonflies) - ITIS has been updated with a list of
New World Odonata provided by Rosser W. Garrison, L.A. County Agricultural
Commissioner's Office, Azusa, CA, based on his work on "A Synonymic
List of the New World Odonata"
(
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/NewWorldOD.html).

Oligochaete worms - The ITIS data steward for oligochaetes is
Mark J. Wetzel, Illinois Natural History Survey, Center for Biodiversity,
Champaign, IL. Mark is currently helping to revise ITIS oligochaete data
for North America, and, for some groups, for the World. Updates are expected
on a group by group basis. Mark is working with Dr. John W. Reynolds on
"Nomenclatura Oligochaetologica - Supplementum Quartum. A catalogue
of names, descriptions and type specimens of the Oligochaeta."

A complete list of species of Polychaeta for the world is expected to
be provided to ITIS in the future by Kristian Fauchald, Department of
Systematic Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, DC, who is the ITIS steward for polychaetes.

Sea anemones, corals, and their allies (excluding Scleractinia,
stony corals) - Dr. Daphne G. Fautin, Division of Biological Sciences,
University of Kansas, is ITIS steward for this group, and is compiling
data to be added to ITIS. A world list of sea anemones of the Order Actiniaria
have been added to ITIS, based on her website Sea Anemones of the World
at (
http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/hexacoral/anemone2).
The work of Daphne and her students with the ITIS project is supported
by a grant from the National Science Foundation's PEET Program (Partnerships
for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy).

Scleractinia (hard or stony corals) - ITIS
has loaded the complete world species list for this group based on data
provided by Stephen Cairns, Department of Systematic Biology, National
Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, as
published in the reference:

Snakes - ITIS is current for North American
species based primarily on data from the USGS Biological Resources Division's
unpublished and expanded update of the 1987 Checklist of Vertebrates of
the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada,and for select
other species from Snake Species of the World, A Taxonomic and Geographic
Reference by R.W. McDiarmid, J.A. Campbell and T.A. Touré (vol.
1 - 1999; vols. 2 and 3 in progress), through Roy McDiarmid, USGS Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, DC, who is the steward for snakes. Eventually,
all snakes will be included in ITIS. ITIS has also integrated a list of
Mexican snakes, contributed by Mexico's Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento
y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), based on the reference mentioned
above under Amphibians.

Trichoptera (caddisflies) - The ITIS database
has been updated based on the Trichoptera World Checklist of January 2001
(
http://entweb.clemson.edu/database/trichopt/)
coordinated by John Morse, Clemson University, Clemson, SC. John Morse
is the ITIS steward for caddisflies.

Turtles - ITIS is current for the world
with data from multiple sources as provided by Roy McDiarmid, USGS Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, DC, who is the steward forturtles. ITIS
has also integrated a list of Mexican turtles, contributed by Mexico's
Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO
http://www.conabio.gob.mx),
based on the reference mentioned above under Amphibians.

Vascular Plants - ITIS reflects North American
plant species based upon the cooperative work of John Kartesz, Biota of
North America Program, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and thePLANTS database
(http://plants.usda.gov)
as of March 2000. Scott Peterson, USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service, is the ITIS steward for vascular plants.